Burnet track finishes in top 3 of the district meet standings

The Burnet High School boys and girls track and field teams were third at the District 19-4A meet April 6-7.

The Bulldogs earned 96 points, while the Lady Dawgs had 106 points.

The boys team was paced by the efforts of middle distance runners Hudson Bennett, who earned gold medals in the 1,600 meters in 4 minutes 33.04 seconds and 3,200 meters in 10:21.08 and a silver in the 800 meters in 2:02.30. Teammates Victor Aviles and Carlos Olvera were right behind him.

Aviles was second in the 1,600 in 4:47.54 and 3,200 in 10:55.97 and third in the 800 in 2:04.86, while Olvera finished third in the 3,200 in 10:56.77 and fourth in the 1,600 in 4:53.04. All three advanced to the area met.

Head coach Ben Speer believes the reason the runners did so well is because they push and encourage each other during practices.

“I think it goes back to the old saying — competition breeds success,” he said. “When you have someone so dominant as Hudson, you know Carlos and Victor want to compete with him every day. They also get to see first hand the hard work Hudson puts into his craft. They want to show the district they’re good, too. One of the most impressive things I’ve seen about Hudson this year is the support he shows his teammates. He’s their biggest fan. As soon as he finishes, he wants to turn around and cheer on Carlos and Victor.”

The pole vaulters also performed well with Brayden Hill finishing second by clearing 13 feet and Brady Rygaard earning third with a vault of 12-6.

Speer said there’s a case to be made for those finishes being the most superb of the first day of the meet.

“That’s saying a lot especially since we swept the 3,200 meters (on the same day),” he said. “However, when you have these guys battling 25 mph wind (as they’re) 13 feet in the air, it’s no fun. Needless to say, having Brayden Hill and Brady Rygaard finish second and third was really impressive. It just says a lot about them and their mental toughness.”

On the girls side, the Lady Dawgs earned points in all three relays. The 4×400-meter team of Kayla Gillaspie, Danielle Oakley, Camryn Courtney and Molly McPherson is the district champion thanks to clocking 4:15.41. The 4×100-meter team of McPherson, Sydne Massoletti, Zaria Solis and Jacque Contreras-Green finished third in 51.79 seconds. The 4×200-meter relay team of Gillaspie, Massoletti, Solis and Contreras-Green also was third in 1:51.70.

McPherson took second in the 400 meters in 1:02.63, while Contreras-Green was third in the 200 meters in 27.56 seconds. Maya Calderon was fourth in the 1,600 meters in 5:55.28, and Autumn Stires was third in the 3,200 meters in 13:29.96. Kyleigh Mott took silver in the shot put with a heave of 32-6.5 and bronze in the discus with a mark of 94-01.

While the coaches were pleased with finishing in the top three of the team standings, both believe better days are ahead.

“These girls represented the school and community of Burnet with spirit, pride and honor,” head coach Crystal Shipley said. “Huge thanks go out to the athletes for the commitment they have made this track season and the support they have been given through family and friends.”

“It’s definitely a difficult district,” Speer said. “It does say we competed well against everyone else. However, it’s not where we liked to be. We want to competing for a district championship. I think we all learned a lot this year and going forward, we’re only going to get better. The good news is we’re very young.”

Next up is the area meet April 21 hosted by Lake Belton High School.

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District 19-4 results

BOYS

Varsity – Burnet is third overall with 96 points (top four finishers in each event qualify for the area meet, which is April 21 hosted by Lake Belton High School)

110 hurdles – 6, Ben Johnson, 17.22; 800 – 2, Hudson Bennett, 2:02.30, 3, Victor Aviles, 2:04.86, 5, Baylor Dawes, 2:10.79; 1,600 – 1, Hudson Bennett, 4:33.04, 2, Victor Aviles, 4:47.54, 4, Carlos Olvera, 4:53.04; 3,200 – 1, Hudson Bennett, 10:21.08, 2, Victor Aviles, 10:55.97, 3, Carlos Olvera, 10:56.77; 4×100 relay – 5, Burnet (Lew Laidler, Micah Evers, Dash Denton, Grant Jones), 45.97; 4×200 relay – 3, Burnet (Will Johnson, Braden Ellett-Clark, Jackson Crawford, Grant Jones), 1:37.06; pole vault – 2, Brayden Hill, 13-0, 3, Brady Rygaard, 12-6; triple jump – 6, Grant Jones, 41-10.5; discus – 5, Elijah Montemayor, 112-02

Junior varsity – Burnet is fourth overall with 91 points

100 – 4, Khris Kassner, 11.83; 200 – 4, Noah Crawford, 24.05, 5, Colton Stanford, 24.28; 110 hurdles – 2, Ricky Fletcher, 19.13; 300 hurdles – 5, Ricky Fletcher, 51.14; 800 – 2, Isaias Zarate, 2:23.03; 1,600 – 2, Isaias Zarate, 5:19.20; 3,200 – 2, Isaias Zarate, 11:47.33; 4×100 relay – 4, Burnet (Peyton Blaine, Conner Crow, Khris Kassner, Colton Stanford), 47.75; 4×200 relay – 3, Burnet (Peyton Blaine, Conner Crow, Noah Crawford, Colton Stanford), 1:41.63; 4×400 relay – 5, Burnet (Peyton Blaine, Aden Sanchez, Anthony Perez, Indy Buchanan), 3:57.33; pole vault – 1, Peyton Shirley, 10-0, 5, Aidan Bell, 8-0; long jump – 3, Trenton Elmore, 19-2.75; triple jump – 4, Brody Danson, 40-4.5, 5, Trenton Elmore, 39-11; discus – 6, Tyson Trim, 89-03

GIRLS

Varsity – Burnet is third overall with 106 points (top four finishers in each event advances to the area track meet April 21 hosted by Lake Belton)

200 – 3, Jacque Contreras-Green, 27.56, 5, Zaria Solis, 28.50; 400 – 2, Molly McPherson, 1:02.63, 4, Camryn Courtney, 1:05.52; 800 – 5, Maya Calderon, 2:38.57; 1,600 – 4, Maya Calderon, 5:55.28; 3,200 – 3, Autumn Stires, 13:29.96; 100 hurdles – 5, Lyndee Harless, 17.82; 300 hurdles – 6, McKenzie Davis, 55.48; 4×100 relay – 3, Burnet (Molly McPherson, Sydne Massoletti, Zaria Solis, Jacque Contreras-Green), 51.79; 4×200 relay – 3, Burnet (Kayla Gillaspie, Sydne Massoletti, Zaria Solis, Jacque Contreras-Green), 1:51.70; 4×400 relay – 1, Burnet (Kayla Gillaspie, Danielle Oakley, Camryn Courtney, Molly McPherson), 4:15.41; long jump – 3, Sydn Massoletti, 16-4.5; shot put – 2, Kyleigh Mott, 32-6.5; high jump – 3, Jacque Contreras-Green, 5-0; discus – 3, Kyleigh Mott, 94-01, 6, Kirstyn Reyes, 84-04

Junior varsity – Burnet is second overall with 122 points

100 – 5, Alexis Armstrong, 14.21, 6, Briana Barrios, 14.31; 200 – 2, Alyssa Sanchez, 28.77; 400 – 2, Josie Teague, 1:08.55; 3,200 – Nicole Rorie, 15:34.26; 4×100 relay – 3, Burnet (Kylie Brobst, Alexis Armstrong, Briana Barrios, Alyssa Sanchez), 55.29; 4×200 relay – 3, Burnet (Kylie Brobst, Alexis Armstrong, Josie Teague, Brogan Fox), 1:58.59; 4×400 relay – 1, Burnet (Brogan Fox, Kylie Brobst, Cydney Robinson, Josie Teague), 4:42.30; pole vault – 4, Lanee McCurry, 6-6; shot put – 1, Alex Leatherwood, 28-3; long jump – 2, Josie Teague, 14-10.75; triple jump – 2, Alexis Armstrong, 32-5.5, 4, Brogan Fox, 30-5; discus – 2, Emma Collins, 77-04, Brynlie Tappe, 77-03, 4, Alex Leatherwood, 67-11